 It is my esteem pleasure to welcome you to the 10th remembrance of our briefly laying here on Hardin Street, which is also Martin Luther King Boulevard in the city of Columbia. Thinking about this day and what it means to us is it is not lost on us the members of city council that we are here today to celebrate the life and the legacy of a trailblazer. Someone who without him and his tireless efforts most of us would not be in the positions we are here today but also the gravity of the responsibility that we have to continue. My brothers and sisters to the man of Alpha Phi Alpha for 10 years you've laid this reef symbolizing that the dream is still alive still alive not only in this nation of ours but in this city of ours. So I stand here today even with a bit of chill in my bones I stand here today invigorated on fire for the dream to become and continue to become a reality in the lives of people. So brothers thank you all for making this an annual pilgrimage and as we sojourn together we are able to sing that song in a thunderous voice free at last free at last thank god almighty we're free at last thank you very much. When here in the city of Columbia we look at when we have people who are still leading affordable housing and we have children who are hungry and we have gun violence in our communities we as a city council we recognize that our work is just beginning and so today we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. King but today is a day people say a day on not a day off but it's also just a day for us to remember the work that lies ahead of us and every single day of every single year we at the city of Columbia are continuing to live up to that legacy that Dr. King has left us challenging us to make the lives of our citizens better and so we thank you the men of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity incorporated because you have been partners with us since day one long before this state recognized this holiday the city of Columbia was recognizing this holiday and you men were with us and so we thank you so much for your continued service to this community today and every day